Category Archive: Tips & Tools

Our customers are at the core of everything we do, whether we’re helping residential ComEd or Ameren ratepayers save money on their bills or connecting low-income residents with retrofit resources. To improve service to our customers, we’ve maintained a direct customer support center in-house since 2001. The team has grown and developed over those 15 [...]

This blog post is guest written by former staff member Eric Keeley. Great enthusiasm for home energy efficiency is often matched with misconceptions. Let’s explore a bit and figure out the difference between what we perceive, believe, and what we know to be true. Our Perception Windows: We see through them every day and curse [...]

Rate design is the method by which an energy utility calculates charges for the energy you use and for the infrastructure used to deliver that energy to your home. This post explains how these charges are calculated. How Are Energy Rates Calculated? Investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities are regulated by state agencies such [...]

Marjie Isaacson’s vintage brick house in West Town doesn’t look all that unusual from the street. But walk around back and you can spot an array of rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) panels that made a bit of Illinois history. Marjie, Elevate Energy’s Director of Quality Assurance and Quality Control, was among the first Chicagoans to [...]

This special Earth Day blog post is guest written by Ms. Meagan Marie Kadlec, Senior Program Support Associate at Elevate Energy and the driving force behind Elevate’s soon-to-be-famous cloth napkin challenge. It’s not easy being green. Oh wait, it kind of is. Sometimes I dream of owning a pre-war three-flat brownstone with solar panels and a [...]

Check out THE GATE article, Chicago Poised to Go Green, quoting our very own Kathryn Eggers. The article notes that Chicago, like other communities, is experiencing phenomenon commonly linked to climate change and explores several local initiatives to combat climate change, including the Chicago Energy Benchmarking Ordinance. The ordinance was developed to raise awareness of [...]

This blog post is guest written by Eric Keeley, Outreach and Marketing Coordinator at Elevate Energy. He’s also a chili aficionado. Many inquiries have come our way regarding Elevate Energy’s second annual chili cook-off. What people REALLY seem to want are the recipes. Today, we’re honored to share some of those recipes. A total of [...]

It’s hard to believe that it has been two years ago to the day that we changed our name to Elevate Energy to better express our mission of smarter energy use for all. We’ve hit several milestones since then. Our hallmark programs have continued apace, and we’ve added new programs that expand our reach and [...]

Update! Elevate Energy now offers benchmarking compliance services to help multifamily building owners or managers comply with Chicago’s Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance. This year, residential buildings great than 50,000 square feet are required to measure, verify, and report energy use. Expert staff from Elevate Energy will help streamline this process for you, from identifying whether your [...]

Low-income households often spend more of their income on energy costs than other more affluent households. In some cases, these low-income families are spending anywhere from 10 to 35 percent of annual income on utility bills. Here in Chicago, families with low incomes tend to live in old, energy-intensive housing, which adds to the energy [...]